Chapter 3: Blogs
Blog is the highest-level container for other elements like a Category and an Entry. A Blog can contain multiple Categories each of which in turn can contain multiple Entries. Each Blog has one Category named "unfiled" by default. Unfiled category is used for saving Entries that are directly under a Blog and not assigned to any user-defined Category.
Creating a Blog
To create a new blog, select the menu item “New Blog” in the “File” menu or click on the button marked “+” and choose “New Blog”. A sheet with two tabs (“Attributes” and “Display Settings”) slides down the main window.
Blog Attributes
The Attributes tab in the “New Blog” sheet contains all the basic properties of a blog. Each of these is explained below.
Blog Name: This is the name that uniquely identifies each blog. You can use any character in the blog name except the forward slash character “/”.
Blog Description: A brief description of the content and purpose of the Blog.
Blog Type: A Blog can be “Public” or “Private”. Private Blogs are password protected and require the user to authenticate before viewing their content.
Username: Username for a “Private” Blog.
Password: Password for a “Private” Blog.
NOTE: Private Blogs in iBlog use a simple JavaScript authentication mechanism that is not completely secure. Don’t use private blogs to save confidential information.
Author Name: The name of the Blog author. This is used in the copyright notice at the bottom of each Blog html file.
Author Email: The email address of the Blog author. This is used as a feedback link for each Entry in the Blog.
Create XML Feed: If this option is turned on then a RSS/XML feed file is created for each blog.
This file named “rss.xml” is placed in the Blog folder. When published Blog audience can subscribe to the Blog using the RSS/XML feed file.
The “Reader Mode” in iBlog provides a RSS reader that lets you subscribe to other Blogs and News feeds.
Publish Blog: To publish a Blog you have to create a publish location in iBlog publish preferences and assign the Blog to it.
Only Blogs which have the publish Blog set to “Yes” appear in the New/Edit location sheet in publish preferences panel.
Ping Weblogs.com: Weblogs.com is a website that maintains a list of the most recently updated/published Blogs.
If this option is set to “Yes” then iBlog will post an update notification to Weblogs.com every time the Blog is published.
Blog Display Settings
Content Area Width: This is used to set the percentage of page width that should be used for displaying the entries.
Navigation Area Width: This is used to set the percentage of page width that should be used for showing the navigation column content (calendar, quick links, statistics etc).
Number of entries in blog page: This is used to set the number of entries whose title, abstract or body is displayed in the Blog page.
Over time as the number of entries increase this setting allows you to control the size of the page.
Number of links in blog page: This is used to set the number of entries whose title is shown towards the end of the Blog page.
After the set number of entries whose title, abstract or body is displayed in the Blog page, the value in this field is used to show the next set of Entry titles as hyperlinks to the actual Entry page.
Order of entries & links in blog page: This is used to set the order of entries in the Blog page.
You can order the entries chronologically by post date and modified date or alphabetically by entry title.
What to show in blog page: This is used to set the portion of the entry that you like to see in the blog page.
You can choose between entry abstract, body or both.
Number of entries in category page: This is used to set the number of entries whose title, abstract or body is displayed in the Category page.
Over time as the number of entries increase this setting allows you to control the size of the page.
Number of links in category page: This is used to set the number of entries whose title is shown towards the end of the Category page.
After the set number of entries whose title, abstract or body is displayed in the Category page, the value in this field is used to show the next set of Entry titles as hyperlinks to the actual Entry page.
Order of entries & links in category page: This is used to set the order of entries in the Category page.
You can order the entries chronologically by post date and modified date or alphabetically by entry title.
What to show in category page: This is used to set the portion of the entry that you like to see in the Category page.
You can choose between entry abstract, body or both.
Number of entries in feed page: This is used to set the number of entries whose title, abstract or body is displayed in the Feed page.
Over time as the number of entries increase this setting allows you to control the size of the page.
Order of entries in feed page: This is used to set the order of entries in the Feed page.
You can order the entries chronologically by post date and modified date or alphabetically by entry title.
What to show in feed page: This is used to set the portion of the entry that you like to see in the Feed page.
You can choose between entry abstract, body or both.
Choose a template set: Using this popup button you can assign a template set to the Blog.
Custom template sets created using the “Resources” menu are also displayed in this popup.
Please refer to Chapter 8 for more information on custom template sets.
Choose a stylesheet: Using this popup button you can assign a style sheet to the Blog.
Custom style sheets created using the “Resources” menu are also displayed in this popup.
Please refer to Chapter 7 for more information on custom style sheets.
Editing a Blog
Double click the Blog name in the outline view of the main window to edit it. A Blog edit sheet will slide down the main window. You can edit the Blog Attributes and Blog Display Settings. Please refer to the “Adding a Blog” section of this chapter for a detailed description of each of the attributes in these two tab views.
Deleting a Blog
Control-click on the Blog name in the outline view of the main window and select “Delete Blog” in the pop-up menu. You can also delete the Blog by selecting its name and clicking the delete button in the button bar at the bottom of the main window.